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Laerys Maegyr
Laerys shows the wear of age on his face and his body clearly. His pale skin is littered with wrinkles from age and the scars earned from battle. His eyes appear more akin to black than to the lavender that they once were years ago. From years of rigorous training, he maintains a muscled form as of yet unaffected by age. His locks of silver are usually unseen by most men as he often dons the priced Valyrian Steel helmet of his ancestors even during times of peace. His beard has been left to grow out covering much of his face under a layer of grey. He nearly always appears in public adorned in black plate. He towers over many at a height of 6’4” owing to his Valyrian ancestry. Biography Laerys was born the eldest son of three children to Baelarys Maegyr and Baela Paenymion. In Volantis, there is a popular sailor’s tale that he was born while his mother had been salting some ham over an open fire in a shrine to Gaelithox. Although this tale appears to originate from a scathing speech Laerys gave to ridicule Vaegon's own birth while they both attempted to be elected to office. According to more reputable sources, there is no mention birth of salt and smoke during the birth of Laerys. From an early age, he was considered destined for something great by his peers. Many have declared his natural ability to both command and persuade his peers found in his very blood. His father taught his son, the lessons that would guide the rest of his life through repeated canings. Due to his father’s heavy-handed lessons, he quickly became adept at leading men to battle. Due to his father's teachings, Laerys realized that it was his destiny to ‘become triarch to ensure the city's stability’ and to ‘take what was duly owed to the First Daughter.’ At the age of five and ten, his father arranged for his son to become a deckhand aboard the warship Nightmare. He did so to give the boy real experience about the hardships of leadership. A year later, he was made the first mate from a combination of merit and family name. His leadership was quickly tested when tragedy struck House Staegone with the death of Rhaenys Staegone from the efforts of the Nightowl and the stupidity of Belloso Aertaris. He would join with the Volantene fleet in their liberation of the city. Although much to the chagrin of Laerys and his fellow Tigers, they liberated the city to the Lyseni for no gain to the First Daughter. Unsurprisingly, this decision was wildly unpopular among the Tigers which lead him to be ousted from office. After four years of serving in the navy, Laerys rose to the position of general of the Volantene navy. When he returned to the city, much to the surprise of his family, he had arranged a marriage with Vhaella Naeralor. Laerys revealed to his brother Vaegor to be his 'attempt to sway their family to join with the Tigers and to secure their war elephants for' himself. Although after his attempts to sway them proved to be fruitless, Laerys pondered whether to nullify his marriage to Vhaella out of spite. But he did not do so for she had already begun to quicken with child. Few moons later, she would give birth to his eldest child Ormon. His wife would birth him two healthy children after his eldest but Laerys would be dishonest if he did not admit that his eldest son would become his favourite. He was a strapping image of himself at his age. Unlike his other spawn, he did not require canings nor whippings to follow his instructions. He was an improved version of himself. One who he put up on a pedestal. His other two children sullied his family name. No matter how many times he scolded or caned them, they never learned. Raqon continued to escape the Black Walls and Aerela never learned to act like a noblewoman. And both were clear disappointments. When he finally placed his bid to become Triarch at the age of nine and twenty, much had changed since the days his father sought to be Triarch. There was a new family which termed the Black Walls their home: House Targaryen. The Dragonlords had gained much sway over the people in the New City with their conversion to the Lord of Light from the Valyrian gods of Old. Although Laerys considered it abhorrent for them to do so, he was one of few who reluctantly stood by as they fell within the Black Walls. Even if they had betrayed Volantis once before, they still ‘possessed a proven uninterrupted bloodline to the Valyrians of Old and are therefore are fit to reside within the Black Walls’ among them. In spite of their ever-growing political influence, Laerys secured his seat in the year 273 AA on the policy of using the chaos of Essaria to conquer the city for Volantis. That plan proved to be wildly popular and he struck out with an army of several thousand. It was an ambitious undertaking as instead of marching his army north, he decided to sail up the river. This in spite of the horses and war elephants he had been forced to ferry; the operation proceeded smoothly. They were able to sail past the marches and forests that littered the area and arrive at the city far sooner than expected. As soon as they spotted the city, his men scaled the walls with untold vigor and the elephants of war burst through the gates before any true opposition could rally to face the Volantenes. It was a one-sided battle by all accounts. Many threw their weapons to the floor to save their own skin. The tales told of their conquest cite that the fires burned and the violence lasted for a fortnight. Laerys would regretfully report in his report to the city that the soldiers 'had their way with many women of the city but that was a natural reaction for men at war.' In order to gain some legitimacy to Volantene rule, Laerys arranged for a marriage between his cousin Viserion Maegyr to Elora Mopaan; an Essarian noblewoman. According to the Triarch's report, 'Elora Mopaan fell in love with Viserion Maegyr at first sight. She married him in spite of her family’s wishes.' The tale is rumoured to be far from this. After her marriage with Viserion, she was placed in the Tower of Sorrow under the protection of the Volantenes. Two years after he took the city, he received news that the First Daughter declared Essaria firmly under Volantene control. That removed Laerys’ temporary immunity from being removed from office. Therefore, he was to return to Volantis with the majority of his troops for a new expedition to help Drahar. He left a token force of men under the command of his two younger brothers and his cousin promising to return with more men when he was elected Triarch once more. Viserion told him to bring Elora and the child within her womb back to Volantis with him so that his child could 'be born where he belonged.' Laerys dutifully did so. When he arrived in Volantis with his troops, he immediately heard news of the fall of Essaria to the Tall Men. Five moons later, his second brother Cyrax arrived at the Black Walls covered with wounds across his body and scars on his face. He revealed to Laerys that they had failed to keep the city after the population of the city rioted. Both Goresso and Viserion were ripped limb from limb by the ensuing riots and Cyrax had escaped by hiding with the rioters of the city. According to the reports of the Tiger Cloaks, Elora would take her own life soon after hearing her husband's death leaving her newborn child Aelor behind. Vhaella had taken Aelor as her own as soon as she heard the death of her mother. She had let the babe suckle at her breast after her own child miscarried. Laerys himself would later admit that Aelor was like his ‘child in spite of his ebony locks.’ He raised Aelor as his own much to the chagrin of his children except Ormon who welcomed him with open arms. And although he was not a tactician or a warrior, he did grow to become a capable speaker; a gift he earned despite his blood. He would later arrange a betrothal with his niece, Baela Maegyr, to award him for his ability to persuade voters to the Tigers. While he married off his two eldest children as soon as legally possible, Raqon has been able to evade any proposals instead fathering a bastard with a Westerosi whore. Amid the rise of the Alliance of the Narrow Sea and the Kingdom of Sarnor, Laerys was able to periodically stoke the masses' fear of the two superpowers and their foreign enemies to rise to the position of Triarch. For example, he was able to stoke the fears of the Alliance’s growth into Norvos to get him elected from 278-280 AA. He did use similar tactics to become Triarch in the years: 285 AA, 291 AA, 294 AA, and 296-298AA. After years of campaigning both on the battlefield and the podium, Laerys has become a comfortable choice for the majority of the Tiger powerbase. During his years as Triarch, he has used the treasury amassed from the new growth of the city to construct new fortifications on both the Orange Shore and the Rhoyne along with the repair of defences created by Aerys Maegyr; his ancestor of old. Now as one of the current Triarchs of Volantis, Laerys seeks to focus the efforts of the First Daughter to recreating the Valyrian Empire of old. As he arrives in Sarnath, he hopes to strike a deal with either Triarch to ensure that Volantis does not fall to the divisions of old but instead unite the entirety of the Old Blood to conquer the entirety of Essos. Although if he senses any faction of the city threatens to destroy it from within, he will not hesitate to wipe out the threat facing the stability of Volantis. Timeline * 244 AA - Laerys Maegyr is born the eldest child to Baelarys Maegyr and Baela Paenymion. * 259 AA - Laerys becomes a deckhand onboard Nightmare at the behest of his father. * 260 AA - Laerys becomes the First Mate and helps lead his ship to help defeat the Band of Nine. * 264 AA - He would marry Vhaella Naerelor in a failed attempt to sway her family to vote for him and to secure their elephants. She still birthed his first child Ormon. * 267 AA - His second child Aerela would be born. * 270 AA - His third child Raqon is born to the both of them. * 273 AA - Laerys becomes Triarch and sails the Volantene forces north to take the city of Essaria. He uses the chaos surrounding the city to rape and pillage. He arranges a marriage between Elora Mopaan and Viserion Magyr. His wife suffers the loss of a child by stillbirth. * 275 AA - Laerys is forced to return to Volantis with the majority of his army after he is ousted from being Triarch. Five moons after he returns to Volantis, Cyrax arrives to report the death of his second brother Goresso and his cousin Viserion. Soon after Elora Mopaan perishes and Vhaella suffers a miscarriage. Vhaella and Laerys take Aelor, Elora’s child, as her own son. * 278-280 AA - Laerys becomes Triarch after using the masses’ fear of the Norvosi admission into the alliance. * 285 AA - His son Ormon marries his wife, Laena Vhassar, and Laerys becomes Triarch once more. * 291 AA - His daughter is married to Maekar Tagaros and Laerys places another notch in his statue. * 294 AA - Laerys continues to become Triarch. * 296-298 AA - Laerys is Triarch for the remaining time. In this time, he would get Aelor married to his niece Baela Maegyr. Archetyped Family * Ormon Maegyr: Heir to House Maegyr, Age: 34; Archetype: General * Raqon Maegyr: ‘The Deserter’, Age: 28; Archetype: Wanderer * Aelor Maegyr: Heir to Essaria, Age: 23; Archetype: Negotiator Archetyped NPC’s * Irro ‘The Flagrant’: Leader of the Tiger Cloaks, Age: 36; Archetype: Warrior(Swords) * Aermon Vorgos: Leader of the Rabid Dogs, Age: 32, Archetype: Reaver * Laresso ‘Martinet’: Navigator of the armies of Volantis, Age: 27; Archetype: Navigator Category:Essosi Category:Volantene Category:Valyrian